A Polaroid snapshot of The Frog, a large chunk of frog-shaped limestone that stands at the main entrance to the Hanson limestone quarry on Ardmore Avenue in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Frog originally stood on the northern rim of the quarry, on Sandpoint Road between Ardmore Avenue and Smith Road. It was one of several large limestone boulders that stood there, where a bend in the road came close to the edge of the 300 foot deep quarry. Decades ago, someone noticed that it was shaped like a frog, and this person painted the side of it green with an eye.

No one knows who painted it the first time, or how long it has been painted like a frog. It has been that way at least since the 1960s, as my parents and several others of their generation told me that it was already known as "The Frog" when they attended nearby Elmhurst High School in the late 60s. It was a popular place for kids to park to make out, drink, and smoke pot. Eventually, the quarry's employees started maintaining the famous landmark, periodically repainting it.

In the summer of 2012, Hanson bought all of the houses on the section of Sandpoint Road where The Frog originally stood and got approval from the county to close the road so that the quarry could expand. Because The Frog had become a beloved landmark, the company moved it to a prominent place at the quarry's main entrance on Ardmore Avenue where it can be seen by the thousands of people who drive past on the busy road each day.

I photographed it early in the morning, soon after sunrise.

5-29-22